A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind is probably one of the most clear examples of a movie with existentialist ideas. In the movie, Nash has a problem where he cannot tell if the people he thinks he sees are real or made up in his head. Existentialism focuses on the concrete existence of people. Nash is constantly struggling with distinguishing between his imagination and real life. The fact that Nash is leading a whole different life in his head confuses him when he finally sees that he has a problem. This is where the idea of existence before essence comes into play. If Nash doesn’t always know what is real and what is not, he has a hard time making decisions and determining his own future. He is being influenced by his imagination and that makes it hard for Nash to define his own destiny. I don’t think it would be fair to say that Nash is able to control his destiny because he can’t even make proper decisions when he is not able to distinguish between what is real and not real. A Beautiful Mind fits into many of the themes and ideas of existentialism.

Red Pills

The 1999 science fiction film The Matrix deals with many philosophic and religious ideas. Neo is given the option to choose a red pill and a blue pill. The blue pill would allow him to continue living his life in bondage to the machines. To be left an unknowing slave. However the red pill, would allow him to know the truth. New realizes that this decision will forever shape his life. This scene could not be filled to the brim with existendial ideals. The concept of essence preceding existance immediately comes to question. Neo is able to choose and define the life he desires. Neo's old life was charactarized with existential despair as well as a complete lack of freedom. Before accepting the red pill, Neo was aware of the Matrix. He was thoroughly unsatisfed with the way his life was being lived. He knew he wasn't in control, that there was something more than being another cog in the machine. By accepting the red pill, Neo chose to let his actions define him.

"How much do you know about yourself if you've never been in a fight?"

The movie Fight Club encapsulates about every philosophy known to man. The story was adapted from Chuck Palahniuk's 1996 book following the experiences of a protagonist struggling with his life's choices. He establishes an underground fight club to deal with his angst. Director, David Fincher created the movie version in 1999. 

The film's themes include the ambiguity of reality and truth and man's internal struggle. The main focus is on the narrator, Jack who works all day in a cubical as an automobile company employee. He is also insomniac who finds his only cure in cancer support group sessions. But the true existential quality is the conception of the central character of Jack/Tyler, whose existence precedes his essence. 

Tyler comes into Jack's perfectly normal, hollow life and exposes his existence for what it really is; something that was not his choice. Jack  learns to see the world differently with the more time he spends with Tyler, who is trying to reveal Jack's real identity. 

In time Jack is accompanying Tyler on a mission to educate others about this "truth". Tyler is the fulfilled Jack; he is the final version of the films protagonist, at this point Sartre insists that "in creating the man that we want to be, there is not a single one of our acts which does not at the same time create an image of man as we think he ought to be." This statement defines the existential belief that, in choosing for yourself, you are choosing for humanity. The belief is that everyone has free will and free choice, but they should be held responsible for the choices they make. Tyler cannot simply live with his successfully created essence, he must also help others create their own.

The fight that Fincher portrays in the film is exactly what Sartre expects. Struggle, fear, and dread. The journey to finding one's essence is not a painless one, but Jack/Tyler (they turn out to be the same people) ultimately complete their transformation. 

I included two clips from the film, try and find the existential characteristics in each.. they are hard to miss. 

file:///Users/samanthabrazill/Desktop/YouTube%20-%20Fight%20Club%20-%20Chemical%20Burn%20Scene.webloc

file:///Users/samanthabrazill/Desktop/YouTube%20-%20Fight%20Club-%20Raymond%20K.%20Hessel.webloc

Requiem For A Dream

This film takes a look into the despairing lives of four drug addicts in New York City. It spans over 3 seasons in the lives of Harry Goldfarb, his mother Sara, his girlfriend Marion, and his friend Tyrone. Although each character's story is different, they are all connected.

The mother Sara is an elderly woman who spends her time watching infomercials on television. After receiving a call that she will be invited to the taping of a live TV show, she becomes over-obsessed with her appearance and insists on fitting in the red dress she wore at her son's high school graduation. She then begins to take weight loss pills throughout the day, and a sedative at night; all are prescription drugs . Although her behavior becomes severely altered, she insists that the chance to be on television has given her a reason to live, as if the 60-odd years of her life haven't meant anything at all. As she waits and waits for her invitation to arrive by mail, she grows impatient and begins popping more pills. Eventually Sara is hospitalized and placed in a mental institution due to the severe damage she has brought upon herself. To end Sara's story, as she rots away in a psycho ward, she has a dream about being on television and winning a prize.

Harry and Tyrone are avid heroin abusers and addicts. Along with Marion, the three enter the drug dealing business to try to reach their dreams; an attempt at their American Dreams. With the constants pressures and complications the group faces, the drug business begins to crumble. Tyrone is imprisoned and Harry must use the drug money to release him. Meanwhile, the supplier has left the NYC are indefinitely, forcing Harry and Tyrone to head south to Florida to try to rebuild. However, Harry's arm has become badly infected because of constant needle insertion, and he and Tyrone visit the hospital. The two are arrested and Tyrone is sent to jail to face hard labor, withdrawal and unrelenting police officers all on his own. Harry wakes in in a prison hospital with his arm amputated. Meanwhile, Marion begins to sell herself for money and cocaine.

I know this is a drawn out summary but I have found that many people have not seen this movie, so I thought a plot summary would be necessary. The existentialist qualities are seen in how the film ends. Each character begins the film feels there is a void in their life, and when the opportunity presents itself, each character seizes it. Sara wishes dearly to be on TV. Harry and Tyrone want to be kingpin drug dealers. Harry is in it for the business propositions, and Tyrone wants to make his mother proud by his being wealthy. Marion wants to open a clothing store. Each character finds the means to their ends in drugs, and in the end, the once connected characters are forever separated and trapped in an everlasting world of despair.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuzNohk5cYw&feature=fvst

This is the final scene of the movie in which each of the characters accept their fates and all they can do is curl up in the fetal position.

From Nazi to Humanist

Nazis have a nasty habit of being utterly blinded by rage, passion and a demagogue. Fueled by hate and raw emotion they act violently and ruthlessly. But what if an experience could change someone so completely that they would totally turn their back on their radical ideals. The film American History X attempts to answer that question.

Derek Vinyard is an intelligent, young Neo-Nazi who is sent to jail for killing two black gang members trying to steal his truck. During his time in jail he tries to connect with the other white supremacist factions also in captivity. He discover however that they consort with other races in drug deals and protection rackets. During this time he is paired with a black thief on his laundry shift. Over time he comes to recognize that life is not all about race and such blah, blah, blah. While this is all very good (and very interesting and well acted I might add) it is not particularly existential. That comes as Derek returns home. His younger brother Danny wants to be a badass Nazi just like Derek once was, however the changes that Derek went through in jail are unknown to young Danny. So when Derek returns he finds himself welcomed back like a hero all the while Danny is watching and dreaming. Derek's actions as the leader of a Neo-Nazi gang are returning to him. No matter what you do while you're away, you have to face up to it when you return. One cannot escape responsibility. Derek attempts to explain to his soft minded brother about jail and why he is no longer a violent racist, why he is leaving everything behind. Danny listens with impressionable ears and decides he doesn't want to be a Nazi anymore. However, the day before Danny had ventured into the bathroom to smoke a cigarette and blew smoke in the face of a young black gang member. So now that Danny has changed, now that he has become a good, moral person he returns to school and uses the bathroom. As he is using the urinal, he is gunned down. Now actions have consequences, repercussions. No matter what you do outside of the bathroom, when you come back you have to face it. The existentialist end comes as Danny is killed by the black kid that he insulted the day before. He is killed because of a choice he made the day before even though he is now a morally altered young man. Sometimes existentialism is a bit disheartening.

Link between choice, responsibility, and power revealed!

As Peter Parker's Uncle Ben once said, "With great power comes great responsibility." Responsibility is an oft discussed theme in the philosophy in existentialism, one bearing heavily on the hearts of man. Responsibility is the acceptance of the action's that one takes, the acceptance of a choice. Uncle Ben's famous statement could be interpreted in an existentialist form as, "With choice comes great power, and with great power comes great responsibility." The notion of choice and responsibility containing the potential for destructive power presents itself in the movie House of Sand and Fog. The movie stars Jennifer Connelly as Kathy, a depressed, reclusive woman who loses her house on a wrongly filed business tax. It also features Ben Kingsley as Mr. Behrani, an ex-Iranian military officer who is working two jobs until he purchases the house that Connelly's character lost. He wants to spruce the house up and flip it to make enough money to get his family into a respectable house and his son into college. The conflict comes as Kathy wants her house back. She meets a policeman named Lester who has troubles of his own. The movie is essentially a back and forth between Berhani and Kathy and Lester, trying to bring each other down and slowly chipping away at each other's lives. The climax is reached when Kathy parks in her old driveway, downs five or six mini bottles of hard liquor and puts a gun to her head. The gun has the safety on. Her failed suicide attempt causes Behrani to ignore his previous quarrel with her and give her help. The following day Lester enters the house with his gun, partly crazed, partly aware, and completely scared. He locks the Behrani family in their bathroom assuming they tried to kill Kathy, rather than trying to save her. Kathy becomes aware of the situation, but allows it to continue. There the existential question is reached. Does Kathy's apathy absolve her of responsiblity? The existential answer is no. It was a choice to not act, and she must live with the results. The film makes these consequences strikingly brutal. Lester forces Behrani and his son to the courthouse to sign over the house to Kathy, on their way Behrani's son disarms Lester and accidentally points the gun at policemen who then fire upon and kill him. This was all the result of the rash and crazed choices of Lester, who then acts as if had no part in the teen's death. At the conclusion of the film Behrani poisons his wife and kills himself. He accepts his choice, as the film plays scenes of their old iranian villa as he dies, implying that he is happy, happy with his choice because he accepts its outcome, perhaps suggesting that Kathy is always unhappy because she is always running. The film also expresses the immense power that a simple choice can produce, as the entire series of events would never have even happened if Kathy had simply opened her mail instead of trying to escape her financial issues. Power comes from responsibility, from choice. We can always choose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REodL9tT0Cg

This is the trailer for the film if you would like some reference. Interesting how Lester says, "You have no choice."

coin flip as matter of life, death

This notorious scene from the Coen brothers' No Country For Old Men probes the dynamic between fatalism and existentialism. It takes the coin flip-- generally the epitome of pure chance, impersonal probability-- and frames it as a matter of personal choice with the ultimate stakes.

...further analysis to come.

In the meantime: Watch. Ponder. Consider. Reflect. Mull over. Comment (please?).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkWoF_ojHoc

The Garden State of Mind

Zach Braff's existential movie Garden State, starring himself as Andrew Largemen is an interesting exposition of existentialism. At the beginning of the movie, Andrew is a walking dead man: he feels nothing. Large is so detached from the world that he cannot even cry at his mother's funeral. He has essentially gone through much of life, with the help of steady medication, completely devoid of emotion. Andrew lets life pass him by and merely watches, not seeing the point of action in a hopeless world, where he can only make himself comfortable as he moves ever closer to the day that he will die. However, a pathological liar named Sam (Natalie Portman) changes his perspective on things. 

Sam brings to light the uniqueness of life, and the value of each passing moment attempting to prove that actions are what define a person's life. Her impression upon, and the absence of his previous medication, allows Largeman to feel again, and begin to take action and take charge of his life. He fosters love for Sam, and because of this love drastic changes occur. She, along with a day-long journey to the bottom of a quarry in Newark, NJ, allows Large to see how much better it is to feel and to love. Andrew realizes that living life is worth the pain that ultimately comes with living. He realizes how much he missed love, and how to forgive himself for (roundabout albeit) killing his mother. Andrew is transformed from scum, to man in the course of several days and makes decisions to end his inaction. He existentially chooses to make choices. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u82n0e1mgmQ

existential angst courtesy of Jim Carrey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HgGSG3waEE

This clip, taken from the end of The Truman Show, approaches existentialist themes in a very tangible, very physical way.

We see Truman at the exact moment of his existentialist crisis, as soon as he realizes his freedom is constrained-- quite literally, by a wall. All these years of life, seemingly free but in reality painstakingly calculated, suddenly implode. He's learned after the fact that he's never been quite free at all. And apparently the new knowledge that his potential is painfully finite, that his will is weaker than this wall, is a pretty tough burden to bear. To compare the Truman of the first ten seconds, eyes closed on a sailboat (the epitome of freedom!) with the Truman at the 1:00 mark is to see bliss dissolved by a dreadful realization. His expression at 1:06 might best capture that initial realization: the eyebrows twinge in submission to something way bigger than himself. He can't help but surrender to a sense of the absurd, looking at this endless expanse of wall, ironically painted like open seas. A sad (yet somehow comical) sequence of him pounding away...and then he gives up. Futility sinks in.

Score one for the World.
Man: 0 World: 1

A new brand of anguish, this one more similar to Sartre's brand of "angoisse," takes root when Truman confronts Christof, the show's creator (Truman's God, essentially). This is the anguish of choice, and it is a monumental, life-determining choice that Truman must make: to continue his role on the show, or to escape. To act (his part) or to actually act, for the first time.

His response? "In case I don't see you... good afternoon, good evening, and good night."
He seems to have settled the score.

American Beauty

Some of us may have seen the film "American Beauty," directed by Sam Mendes--I think it offers up a number of interesting issues, a few of which deal directly with existentialism. For those who haven't seen the story, you can ruin it for yourselves here, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Beauty_(film), so as to get an idea of what I'm talking about. 

One major facet of existentialism is the way it believes in the concept of "existence precedes essence." Something must exist before it can have a purpose, or a soul. Main character Lester Burnham certainly fits the bill, although it takes him forty-odd years before he manages to finally find any sort of purpose in his hopelessly convoluted, caving-in life. When Lester is surely going to be laid off from his job, he takes some initiative to do what he wants to do: start working out, buy a convertible, smoke marijuana, and work as a burger flipper at a fast food restaurant. This choice is met with shock by his conventional wife, but it seems as though Lester has found his essence. Another major choice is by Lester's wife (who I consider to be fairly hypocritical) to fall into an affair with a rival real estate agent.

Another key point of existentialism is the idea of freedom. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, Lester and his wife find themselves free to do whatever they desire, flouting societal conventions in order to do so. 

the beginning

Not quite a movie, but thoroughly existential nonetheless.

"Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb."

In the absence of his feline companion, all Jon has are his actions-- and these too, for the most part, prove futile. In the absence of a responsive environment, does Jon really exist? Is the mere action of "action" enough to justify his existence, give him identity? Or is his identity tethered to others' perception? (When he points to a ball of yarn--to no reply--has he really done anything at all?)

Where is poor Garfield when we need him?


http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/